Islam Academy (islam.academy) offers free Islamic courses. Reading the first section of any lesson needs no account; to open every section and keep track of your progress, you create a free account. This page explains, plainly, what we collect, why, who helps us run the site, the cookies we use, and what you can ask us to do. Your rights, and the lawful basis for each use, are set out in Your Data Rights.
What we collect
Your account. Your email address and the name you give us (optional). If you create an account with a password, we store only a one-way scrambled form of it (a hash), never the password itself. If you sign in with Google, Google shares your name, email address and a Google account identifier with us; we do not receive your Google password or anything else from your Google account.
Your progress. Which lesson sections you have marked complete, and where you stopped in a narration, so you can pick up where you left off.
Your email choices. Whether you ticked the optional box to hear about new courses, and when; whether you have unsubscribed from our emails; and, if you subscribed in the site’s footer, that email address.
How you found us. When you create an account we record the internet (IP) address it was created from, to stop automated sign-ups, and where your first visit came from: the campaign details in the link you followed (such as utm_source or a Facebook click identifier), the website that referred you, and the first page you landed on. These come from our first-touch cookie, described below.
Referrals. Every account has its own invitation code. If you join through a friend’s link (one ending in ?ref=), we record that they invited you.
Password resets. When you ask to reset your password, we keep a scrambled record of the one-time link, when it was requested and from which internet address, to stop misuse. The link expires after an hour.
Course reviews. If you review a course, we store your rating and what you wrote, linked to your account. Reviews are checked before they appear. A published review shows your first name and the initial of your last name, never your email address.
Messages to us. If you use the contact form, we store your name, email address, the topic, your message and the internet address it was sent from, and forward it to our inbox so we can reply.
Site usage. Google Analytics tells us which pages are read and roughly how people reach the site; it uses cookies and collects information such as your approximate location, device and browser. We also keep our own simple count of page views, which stores the page and the referring site with a code that changes every day, and no internet address.
How we use it
To run your account and sign you in; to show and save your progress; to keep the site safe from spam and misuse; to answer your messages; to show reviews; and to understand which courses help people so we can improve them.
Emails. We send the emails the service needs: a welcome when you join, password-reset links, and a notice when your password changes. The day after you sign up we send one email inviting you to share Islam Academy with a friend, with your own invitation link and an unsubscribe link. Only if you chose it do we tell you about new courses and lessons.
Measuring our advertising. We advertise Islam Academy on Facebook, Instagram and Google, and we use Meta’s and Google’s tools to see whether those adverts work. The Meta Pixel in your browser tells Meta when a page is viewed, when a lesson is opened or finished (with the lesson’s name), and when an account is created. When an account is created, our server also sends Meta that sign-up through its Conversions API, with your email address and account number in scrambled (hashed) form, your internet address, your browser’s description of itself (its user agent) and Meta’s own _fbp/_fbc cookies, so Meta can match the sign-up to an advert and count it once. Google’s advertising tag records that an account was created. We use this to measure and improve our own adverts. We do not sell your information, we do not share your progress or reviews with advertisers, and there are no advertisements on the site. You can object to this use; see Your Data Rights.
Who helps us run the site
- Hostinger hosts the website and its database.
- SendPulse delivers our emails.
- Google provides Sign in with Google (if you use it); Google Analytics; the Google Ads tag that measures our adverts; and reCAPTCHA, which checks that sign-ups, password-reset requests and contact messages come from people rather than automated programs. Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms apply.
- Meta (Facebook and Instagram) receives the Pixel and Conversions API information described above. Meta’s Privacy Policy applies.
- YouTube (Google) supplies the lecture playlists embedded on some courses’ Sources and Bibliography pages. We use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com), but once you play a video, YouTube may set cookies and record that you watched it.
Each receives only what it needs to do its job. Some of them process information outside the country where you live; see Your Data Rights for how those transfers are protected.
Cookies and browser storage
- tafsir_student: keeps you signed in, for up to 30 days or until you sign out.
- ia_attrib: our first-touch cookie. It remembers how you first reached the site (the campaign details in the link, a Facebook click identifier, the referring website, the page you landed on, and a friend’s invitation code if there was one) for 90 days, so a later sign-up can be credited to it.
- _fbp and _fbc: set by the Meta Pixel, to recognise your browser and the advert you clicked.
- Google Analytics and Google advertising cookies (such as _ga): set by Google to count visits and measure our adverts.
- Browser storage: small preferences kept on your own device, such as whether narration plays on automatically.
Your cookie choice. The first time you visit, a banner asks whether to allow analytics and advertising cookies. “Accept all” allows them; “Only essential” keeps just the cookies the site needs to work (such as staying signed in), switches off Google Analytics and advertising storage, tells the Meta Pixel not to track you, stops our first-touch cookie, and means no Conversions API event is sent for you if you then create an account. If you are in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, analytics and advertising stay off until you accept. We remember your choice in a cookie called ia_consent for six months, and you can change it at any time with “Cookie settings” at the foot of every page.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser’s settings. The site works without the advertising and analytics cookies; without the sign-in cookie you will not stay signed in.
Your choices
You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time with the link in any such email. You can ask us for a copy of your information, to correct it, to delete your account and everything linked to it, or to stop using it to measure our advertising, by using the contact form or writing to contact.islam.academy@gmail.com from the email address on your account. We answer within one month. If you signed in with Google, you can also remove Islam Academy’s access from your Google Account settings at any time. The full list of your rights is in Your Data Rights.
How long we keep it
We keep your account, progress, email choices and reviews while your account exists. If you ask us to delete your account, we delete it and the information linked to it. Contact messages are kept while we deal with them and as a record of the conversation, and deleted on request. Records of password-reset requests and sign-up addresses are kept only as long as needed to prevent misuse. The first-touch cookie expires after 90 days.
Children
The courses are open to everyone. If you are under 13, please ask a parent or guardian before creating an account.
Changes and contact
If we change how we handle your information, we will update this page and the date at the top. Questions: contact.islam.academy@gmail.com, or our contact page.